THE GODCHILD

In Terlecky’s future-set YA novel, a teen chafes against the strictures of her seemingly utopian, conflict-free society.

Fifteen-year-old Ellie Wilder is a moderately precocious student in the 10th grade at the TEAMMATE High School. This year, she and her classmates will be placed in their future careers after taking the TEAMMATE Placement Test. Like everyone in her society, Ellie follows the rules of the TEAMMATE Rulebook in order to preserve their fair and peaceful society; these include not questioning the TEAMMATE Council and rejecting all forms of paganism (because religion was divisive and led to wars, all faiths are now referred to as “paganism” and outlawed). When Ellie discovers a mysterious book and journal in her attic, she begins to question TEAMMATE. As her questioning spills out into the public, Ellie begins to attract the attention of Andy Jacobs, the boy on whom her best (and only) friend, Judith, has an obsessive crush. (Andy loves that Ellie is “not one of them [other Teammates].”) After a brief turn into romantic comedy, the narrative shifts to clear Christian allegory as the discovery of the book leads Ellie to more questions. After a dramatic chase scene leads Ellie out of her perfect society, the story becomes more like hard SF, complete with time travel. The first several chapters of the novel dive deeply into the compelling world of TEAMMATE as Ellie’s class reviews its history in preparation for the exam. While a bit heavy-handed, the call-and-response lectures are effective at quick worldbuilding. But it is hard to tell who the target audience is for this novel—the first half seems to be written for YA readers, though the characters do not convincingly talk like real-life teens. After the genre shift, everyone suddenly speaks like Bible figures, especially Ellie. Those looking for a Christian parable that may appeal to SF audiences could find something to enjoy here.

A cluttered dystopic tale and heavy-handed biblical allegory.